Summer 2002
A Guide to the District
New Book Offers Details About DC Living
By Greg
Licamele
The third edition of the Newcomers Handbook for Washington,
DC, written by GW Professor Ricia Chansky and Mike Livingston,
covers 35 neighborhoods and includes more than 200 pages of advice on
finding a home, choosing schools and child care, getting around the
Washington area, and taking care of every administrative detail from
drivers licenses to dog vaccinations. The third edition is
also the first to include Web site addresses for community organizations,
government agencies, newspapers, utility companies, and other resources. Unlike
a travel guide, the Newcomers Handbook assumes the
reader is coming here to stay.
The new edition, which is more than twice as long as the previous
one, is filled with important information for people new to the city
and for those trying to better familiarize themselves with DC and the
greater metropolitan area, Chansky says. At each new
place that I covered for the text, I felt as though I was discovering
rarely seen treasurers and couldnt wait to rush home and write
them up for the book.
Since 1980, the Newcomers Handbook series of city
guides has offered readers a unique guide to moving to and living in
New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, and
other major cities.
Having taught in GWs English Department for six years, Chansky
also serves as a freshman and Living and Learning Community adviser. She
teaches at risk youths in a teen writing program that she
designed at The Smithsonian Institute and is a writer for the education
department of The Kennedy Center.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu